//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Back To The Kitchen // Story: Button Mash and Sweetie Belle Play Minecraft // by QuilliamPenn //------------------------------// Chapter 10: Back To The Kitchen Button Mash awoke slowly. His eyes were foggy, his breathing soft but labored. He let out a soft groan, shifting his vaguely legs a bit as her blinked repeatedly, clearing up his vision. The floor beneath him was cool, comfortably so. He wondered if maybe it was the stone of the cave, no doubt it would hold some level of cool properties. Light shone down from the hole in the ceiling of the cave, it was unpleasant to look straight at and caused his eyes to water a bit. He groaned, holding a front leg in front of his face and slowly pushing himself up onto his haunches. He kept them closed for a moment, bringing his hooves up to rub at them. He wiped away the sleep and the tears caused by the light, and then blinked a few more times before getting a good look at his surroundings. Button wore a deadpan expression as he looked lazily around what he recognized to be his kitchen. He rubbed the back of his neck; cracking it a bit as her eyed his fridge thirstily. He desperately wanted apple juice; it felt like it had been days since he had- His eyes suddenly widened, pupils shrinking to the size of pinheads. His jaw slackened and he couldn’t help but let out a soft, shaky chuckle. His eyes flitted around rapidly, panic setting in for a brief moment as he scanned quickly around his kitchen. His panic was soon relieved as he turned around to see Sweetie Belle laying on the kitchen floor; slowly awakening. She was clean, and looked mostly unscathed. In fact she looked exactly as she had before. Her mane fell in its natural curly state. Off-white eyelids fluttered open to reveal bright green eyes, eyes that no longer looked bloodshot or tired, eyes that looked how a filly’s should look. Button Mash said nothing as Sweetie Belle met his gaze. They both wore expressions of disbelief. They had done it then, they had escaped. The plan had worked, The Endermare’s plan thwarted, the house restored…and now here they sat like nothing had ever happened. It wasn’t long before Sweetie Belle had pushed herself up and zipped over to Button. She hugged him tightly, breathing a little shaky. She hadn’t ever hugged him like this before, it was new to him. Even when they were in that hell, she hadn’t hugged him like that. “I thought you had died…” She said softly, the tears rolling down her cheeks were easy to pick up in her words, and she gave him a tight squeeze as she spoke. Oh, that was why. He had almost died horribly. He had forgotten there for a second. It took him a moment to actually formulate a response. He wasn’t even really hugging her back, he was just sitting there on his haunches and trying to process this amongst everything else that had happened, and the fact they had actually managed to escape. Slowly, his slack-jawed expression turned to a grin, and then a full on smile. He wrapped his front legs tightly around her and squeezed back, looking up at the ceiling and clearing his throat, fighting back tears as he too got a little choked up. “Yeah, but you saved me, so…I didn’t.” He said with a slight chuckle. Well, he probably couldn’t have been a bit more poetic with his words but, who could blame him for not being all that verbally eloquent after all of that? Sweetie Belle didn’t really seem to mind though, seeing as she gave him a shaky chuckle in reply as she pulled out of the hug and met his gaze, leaving a hoof on his shoulder. “Thank you, Sweetie Belle.” He said softly, giving her a nod and a smile as he cleared his throat, trying to remain composed as he could before flitting his gaze off to the side a bit. Sweetie Belle nodded and gave him a hum, slipping her hoof of his shoulder and bringing it up to rub away her tears. “So…I guess everything was reversed then, huh?” She said suddenly, clearing her throat and changing the topic. Button couldn’t help but notice the slightest hint of red in her face. He pulled his gaze from her and looked around, confirming that everything had, indeed, been reversed. His refrigerator was right where it should be, no longer iron ore. His sing wasn’t just a hole in the wall any more, the island in the center of the kitchen had been returned. All the appliances were back, his toaster, and the stove, all of it. He turned his gaze over beside him now, finding the table standing right where it should be; no longer a tree. On top of the kitchen table, sitting exactly where it had before all this had started, was his laptop. The Minecraft menus still shone brightly on the screen. He almost cringed upon seeing it. “I...I guess it did, yeah.” He said thoughtfully, turning his gaze to follow Sweetie Belle as she clambered atop the kitchen chair and looked at the computer screen. “What exactly did you do, Sweetie Belle?” He asked, eyes flitting between her and the computer. “I just hit the power button, and then it turned the computer off, and a moment later there was that bright white light…I don’t really remember the details, I was in a bit of a panic.” She chuckled softly, rubbing the back of her neck as she reached a hoof out and closed the laptop. “Yeah…” He replied, shuddering as he remembered how close he had come to a fiery death. The two of them sat in total silence for a moment, neither of them really knowing exactly what to say. What was one to say, after going through such an ordeal? What words were there to be shared after two ponies had been through hell together, other than ‘Thank you’? Button wasn’t sure, and neither was Sweetie Belle. “I guess you don’t have much interest in playing video games today, huh?” Button asked, grinning faintly as he met her gaze. Sweetie Belle laughed an actual, joyous, legitimate laugh. She looked down at him and smiled brightly, “Maybe another time, Button Mash…I’ve had my fill for today.” She said, slipping down off the chair just as the sound of the front door opening was heard. Both young ponies turned their gaze towards the entrance of the kitchen, a twinge of fear striking their hearts as the thought of some monstrosity rounding the corner ran through their minds. Oh how relieved they were when they found it to be naught a monster; but Button’s Mother. She was rather surprised when both little equines rushed at her and hugged her legs tightly. “Uhh.” Was all she was able to let out, seeing as she had a plastic bag filled with groceries in her mouth. She raised an eyebrow at the two little ones, stooping over to set down the bag of groceries and let out an unsure chuckle. “Button, Sweetie Belle…uh, hi?” “Momyouhavenoideahowgooditistoseeyou!” Button spurted out, squeezing her front leg tighter than he ever had in his life. Sweetie Belle on the other hoof, seemed to realize that it would come off as a bit awkward for her to remain attached much longer, and promptly pulled away. “Miss Mash.” Sweetie Belle said politely, nodding her head slightly. Button’s Mom gave her a polite nod in return, and then brought her gaze to her son once more. “Button…I was only at the store for an hour or so, and you’re acting like I’ve returned from a week-long trip to GriffinStone!” She said with a laugh, leaning down to nuzzle at Button’s mane. Button’s eyes widened, and he quickly slipped off of his mother’s leg, looking up at her and chuckling sheepishly. “Y-yeah, I just…missed you, is all.” He said awkwardly, clearing his throat and stepping back beside Sweetie Belle. “Right…” She hummed; giving him a curious look as she stooped over and took the groceries in her mouth, then took them to the counter to unpack. “I didn’t know you were having Sweetie Belle over today, what have you too been up to?” She hummed as she worked on unpacking various fruits and vegetables. “Oh, we’ve just been-“ “Button Mash and I got sucked into a video game and have spent the past two days fighting for our lives! We almost died, and we fought a big monster, and I almost got exploded but Button Mash saved me!” Sweetie Belle said cheerily, cutting Button off and receiving an ‘Are you insane?’ look from him as she spoke. “Oh? That’s wonderful!” She said with a bright laugh, turning to the fridge and opening it as she spoke. Button was a bit astounded that all his mother had to say was that, but when he thought about it for a moment, it really wasn’t that surprising. Of course his mother would think they had been playing pretend. Who would believe either of them if they said that all had actually happened? “Y-yeah!” Button said with a chuckle, leaning over and nudging Sweetie Belle a bit. “Sweetie Belle saved me too though; I would have burned up in lava if she hadn’t saved me!” He said with a grin. Button’s Mom sighed happily, giving them both a smile as she became just slightly nostalgic. “I remember when your father and I used to pretend the floor was lava, it’s nice to see you kid’s still play games like that these days!” “Yeah, well…I’m actually pretty run out on games for today, so…I should probably be getting home.” Sweetie Belle said softly, “Miss Mash, it was nice to see you!” She added in, exchanging nods with the mare before turning and slowly heading for the door, motioning for Button to follow. “I’ll go and uh, walk her out.” He said quickly, before turning and following his friend. Once they came to the door, Button couldn’t help but press a hoof against it. It was most certainly wood, not bedrock. He sighed in relief, sharing a chuckle with Sweetie Belle as he sat down on his haunches and watched her open the door. The cool, winter breeze wafted into the house as the door was open; it ruffled both of their manes softly. Both young ponies couldn’t help but inhale deeply. Sweet Celestia, it felt good to breathe fresh, real, outside air. They sat there, almost high off the feeling of crisp air, before meeting each other’s gaze once again. “So...I guess everything really was reversed back to before it happened then, huh?” Sweetie Belle said softly, twitching her ears gently. “Yeah…” He replied, looking back into his living room and letting out an inwards sigh of relief at the fact that there was a table there instead of a pillar of stone and ore. There was another awkward silence for a moment as they held each other’s gaze. Neither of them really knew what to say, it felt so…strange, just going their separate ways after experiencing such an ordeal together. It was a life-changing experience that neither of them would ever forget, that was for sure. Sweetie Belle then did the most unexpected thing, and Button could only sit stone still as she did. The small filly leaned in and kissed him quickly, and awkwardly on the cheek, then as hurriedly as she could, sat back on her haunches and looked out the door, face a bright crimson. “Uh, T-thank you, Button.” She said sheepishly, “I-I’ll see you later, yeah?” “Uh…Yeah.” Was all he managed to get out, before she gave him a polite nod and trotted out of the house and into the snow. As she made her way out, he could have sworn there had been the smallest grin on her face. He sat there for a moment, just watching her go. He watched her walk away until she got to the end of the street, at which point she turned and gave him a wave. At that distance he couldn’t tell if she was smiling or not, but he had a feeling she was. He surely was. “Button, I feel a draft! Did you leave the door open?” Button’s eyes widened briefly and he quickly shut the door, rubbing his cheek with a hoof for a moment before turning and trotting into the kitchen, finding his mother just finishing with the groceries. “Sorry, I was saying goodbye to Sweetie Belle.” He said softly, glancing at his mother before trotting over to the kitchen table and pulling himself up onto the chair. “I like that filly, she’s very polite. Much less…’rough’ than those other two she hangs out with.” Button’s Mom said thoughtfully, closing the fridge and turning her gaze over to her son, just as he tucked his laptop under one front leg and began making his way out of the kitchen. “Where are you going?” She asked curiously, watching him with a raised eyebrow. “I’m going to bury my laptop in the yard.” He deadpanned, before disappearing out of the kitchen.